The present invention relates to a novel and visually attractive fat-based confectionery product with enhanced melt-in-the-mouth properties as compared to traditional confectionery products and which can be conveniently and rapidly prepared in front of consumers on demand. The invention also relates to a method and apparatus for dispensing such a product in a very convenient, versatile and rapid way. The invention finds a particular application in foodservice locations such as restaurants, fast foods outlets, canteens and convenient stores where there is an increasing demand for innovative food.
To date, the range of fat based confectionery such as chocolate and chocolate-like products (later called “chocolate” for simplification) offered in foodservice locations remains very traditional. The vast majority of fat-based confectionery products are produced in chocolate manufacturing plants, packaged and offered for sale on shelves at the foodservice outlet. Therefore, whereas they are successful in stores where consumers buy them to eat them later or on-the-go, they are less successful in restaurants or commercial locations where food, ice creams or beverages are offered in different varieties such as in menus or on demand.
In some foodservice outlets, fat-based confectionery is sometimes used as a liquid topping or decoration for covering or accompanying some particular foods such as sundaes, cakes or waffles. The fat-based confectionery is usually a liquid sugar and chocolate-based mixture served from containers by a foodservice operator and which gives a sensation of liquid chocolate either hot or cold. However, the taste is usually far from the incomparable taste of solid chocolate and its attractiveness is rather limited as such.
In other occasions, solid chocolate can be served to accompany food or beverage items. For example, coffee beverages may traditionally be served together with a small amount of solid dark or milk chocolate such as chocolate buttons or wrapped mini-slabs. Coffee usually marries well and enhances the taste of chocolate which makes this combination traditionally successful. However, this combination is rather marginal and this is not utilizing all the potential attractiveness of chocolate within a wider offer, either as such or in combination with other foods and beverages.
There is also a growing trend for consumers to enjoy watching food being prepared freshly for them, examples are visible espresso machines in cafés, in-store bakeries and flamboyant pizza dough preparation and baking. Watching the food or beverage being prepared adds to the consumer's enjoyment, and the consumers' perception of its value increases because they know it is fresh and specially prepared for them. Although consumers can watch confectioners forming and decorating chocolate confectionery, they cannot eat or buy the result immediately as the chocolate has to be cooled under controlled conditions to solidify it before it can actually be handled. Typically, there is at least a twenty-minute delay before a freshly created chocolate confectionery item can be handled and eaten by the consumer, by which time most consumers will have lost interest or will have purchased items previously prepared.
Liquid or solid chocolate that is usually proposed for combination with food products is not freshly formed which may be detrimental, especially, when it is combined with freshly dispensed products such as warm waffles, croissants or ice creams.
Many consumers, whether children or adults, enjoy being able to play with their meal or drink accompaniments. For example, chocolates served with coffee are often presented in a foil wrapper, and many people gain additional relaxation and pleasure from being able to twist the foil wrapper into a variety of shapes. Children are also well known to enjoy having items to play with accompanying their food. Fast food outlets often supply meals which include a toy for this purpose. To date, there are very few chocolate meal or drink accompaniments which have this “play value”. Chocolates in animal or character shapes may provide entertainment for a while, but there is no opportunity to bend and shape the chocolate as it is not flexible and so the consumer's interaction with the product is limited.
Fats are known which allow a chocolate-like material to be made flexible. EP 0502697 describes a flexible chocolate composition having improved flexing characteristics and moldability. However, this composition uses a fat rich in di-saturated mono-linoleate triglycerides which cannot be legally described as chocolate in most countries. In addition, because a special composition is required to achieve the flexible effect, consumers cannot experience their favorite chocolate and chocolate-like products in a flexible state.
Food products in the form of long flexible strands such as tagliatelle, spaghetti, linguine or noodles are visually attractive and part of the pleasure of eating them derives from the ability to twist them and gather them up before putting them in the mouth. Processes for producing chocolate strands are known. EP0321449 describes a process for producing chocolate filaments from supercooled liquid chocolate to form a self-supporting, frangible, open lattice structure of discrete filaments. However, once set, the product is rigid and breaks easily in many small pieces if manipulated.
Chocolate vermicelli are also well known as short strands of chocolate used to decorate cakes and ice-cream, and these are produced by pushing tempered liquid chocolate through a sieve to form thin strands. Chocolate vermicelli for food service applications is produced in bulk by the manufacturers, packaged and sent to the food service outlet for addition to food products.
For both chocolate vermicelli and chocolate strands produced according to EP0321449 the chocolate cannot be handled until after it has been cooled for many minutes to solidify it. Once cooled, the chocolate produced in these conventional ways is not flexible so it is never in a state where it can both be physically handled and is flexible.
An important food service outlet for chocolate is for chocolate which is then combined with ice cream. Consumers often have favourite chocolate products with distinctive tastes which they would like to eat together with ice cream. The melting speed and viscosity of chocolate affects its perceived flavour as is described in S. T. Beckett, The Science of Chocolate, Chapter 5, RSC 2000. When popular chocolates are eaten together with ice cream, the low temperature reduces their melting speed and so changes their flavour. Often the chocolate is so hard when combined with ice cream that it shatters into pieces in the mouth which are swallowed before they have had a chance to melt in the mouth and release any flavour. Chocolates can be reformulated with higher fat contents and lower melting point fats to increase their melting rate and so improve their flavour with ice cream. However, if these products are then picked out of the ice-cream and allowed to warm up, the consumer is disappointed that they do not have the taste and texture of their favourite product, and often are so soft that they are difficult to handle and are likely to make a mess of children's clothing. In addition, some consumers have favourite chocolate products which they do not wish to contain fats other than cocoa butter.
A rapid melting chocolate provides an enjoyable sensation in the mouth. The melting sensation itself is pleasurable, but then the mouth is rapidly cleared of chocolate giving a clean eating sensation. A rapid melting chocolate is especially advantageous when the chocolate is combined with a freshly served food or beverage in order to compensate for the relatively dry taste or purely liquid taste of the accompanied item.
Chocolate in a liquid form does not melt in the mouth, and so the eating satisfaction is much reduced. It also has the disadvantage that it can easily drip off the food. For instance, when served on top of ice cream, liquid does not stay long in place and can more easily smear on hands of the consumer. Liquid chocolate also does not serve well with beverages such as coffee for instance. Furthermore, it cannot be shaped into attractive forms and does not add much to the attractive appearance of the food it is on except that people can immediately recognize its presence or not on the food. Liquid chocolate cannot be picked up and handled and if touched causes very sticky fingers.
EP 0775446 relates to an extrusion process and extruding apparatus for forming a continuous lattice structure of chocolate by applying pressure to the chocolate or fat-containing confectionery material in a solid or semi-solid non-pourable form. The product is formed of a cellular or honeycomb structure obtained from a particularly complex die arrangement comprising a network of pins and parallel slots. As a result, this particular organized lattice structure would exhibit a certain degree of temporary flexibility but cannot be bent round on itself. In particular, such structure could not be coiled onto a surface to form long strands without breaking.